1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to that class of device involving a rotor which rotates within a chamber in continuous contact with its walls, dividing the chamber into two variable volume compartments. Both the rotor and a crank inserted in a block which slides back and forth within a slot in the rotor are acted upon by gases to produce rotation of the shaft; gases being admitted through a hole in the crank and exhausted through a port in a disk adjacent the chamber and rotor. This invention involves novel means of admitting pressurized gas through the crank at regular intervals and bypassing gas from inside the rotor to the chamber; to provide gas expansion ratios from about 5:1 to over 15:1, thereby efficiently utilizing the energy of hot, high pressure gases.
2. Description of Prior Art
Most positive displacement gas-expansion motors in use today, if of the rotary type, require complex rotor seals, valving means and gearing. And their expansion ratio is usually limited by the geometry of the rotor with respect to the chamber and by the valving.